--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 25th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, a political earthquake in New York as a 33-year-old Democratic socialist claims victory in the mayoral primary. What to know about RFK Jr.'s new appointees to the CDC's vaccine committee. And one of the fastest women in the world is trying to get a little bit faster.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But first, let's turn to what we know and don't know about a dizzying 72 hours in the White House Situation Room as officials assess the conflict between Israel and Iran. It was only June 19th, that's last Thursday, that CBS was telling viewers to expect an extended period of deliberation.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Within the next two weeks, that's when the White House says President Trump will make a decision on whether the U.S. should join Israel in its military operations against Iran. But things moved a lot quicker.
--:-- Shamita Basu: By that Sunday, the U.S. had bombed Iran, Iran had bombed U.S. military bases, and President Trump had declared Iran's nuclear weapons program destroyed, dismissing his own director of national intelligence who had said that U.S. intelligence shows Iran isn't currently building a nuclear weapon.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Then on Monday, as lawmakers began raising concerns about escalation, a ceasefire was announced. Shocking much of Washington.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hours later on Tuesday morning, Trump delivered an outburst at the two countries he had just congratulated for ending their conflict as bombings seemingly continued.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You know what? We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing. Do you understand that?
--:-- Megan Messerly: For now, it appears that the ceasefire is holding as the administration looks to declare a big win.
--:-- Megan Messerly: I think one of the most remarkable things has been sort of the discipline, if that's the right word, that this White House has really had in the decisions it's made over the last 48, 72 hours with regard to Iran.
--:-- Megan Messerly: That's Megan Messerly, White House reporter at Politico.
--:-- Megan Messerly: This decision making has been, you know, kept to a relatively small group of people. President Trump himself was responsible for communicating directly with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
--:-- Megan Messerly: It was Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff who were involved in communicating with the Iranians both directly and indirectly.
--:-- Megan Messerly: It appears many of Trump's own officials were taken by surprise by the ceasefire announcement.
--:-- Megan Messerly: As four-way talks between Iran, Israel, U.S., and Qatar gathered pace following Iran's weekend strike south of Doha.
--:-- Megan Messerly: Vice President J.D. Vance was about to go live on Fox News when the announcement was made, and while he said he had just come from ceasefire discussions, he appeared to be hearing about the deal in real time.
--:-- Megan Messerly: Messerly notes that on Tuesday, the president seemed keen to change the subject with reporters.
--:-- Megan Messerly: I think the really interesting in the wake of this ceasefire has been how quickly he's looking to move on from it.
--:-- Megan Messerly: He's, you know, at the NATO summit talking about how NATO is going to be increasing their defense spending.
--:-- Megan Messerly: He really has moved on very quickly from this, which I think signals a desire to declare victory and move on in case the victory ends up not being quite as victorious in the end.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And that question, the extent to which Iran's nuclear capabilities have been set back, will be key.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yesterday U officials reportedly familiar with a preliminary classified report briefed its conclusions to CNN and subsequently The New York Times and Reuters namely that Iran nuclear program has been set back by just a few months
--:-- Shamita Basu: The report was prepared by an intelligence agency within the Department of Defense.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump hit back on social media, denouncing CNN and the conclusions, reiterating that Iran's nuclear sites were completely destroyed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, gave his reaction on Fox News last night.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Leaking, that type of information, whatever the information, whatever side it comes out on, is outrageous. It's treasonous.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is an early, incomplete report, and Reuters does say it has a lot of caveats, with a more refined assessment coming.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But it's a sign that there remains a lot of ambiguity as to the long-term status of Iran's program.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just this morning, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said its nuclear installations were, quote, badly damaged, but didn't offer more details.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The UN nuclear watchdog says the damage looked very significant, but called for Iran's cooperation to allow an inspector to visit facilities to get a more complete picture.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Iran's willingness to collaborate with inspectors on that front looks far from certain.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So it may be some time before we have a definitive answer as to what really took place over the past two weeks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now on to stunning election results from New York City, where Zahran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist lawmaker, appears set to win the democratic primary for mayor.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Once a virtually unknown state assembly member with little experience in governing, Mamdani is now favored to take control of the country's largest and wealthiest metropolis.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He addressed the city last night.
--:-- Zohran Mamdani: In the words of Nelson Mandela, it always seems impossible until it is done. My friends, we have done it.
--:-- Zohran Mamdani: I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.
--:-- Shamita Basu: While votes aren't expected to be fully tallied until next week, the tone was set when his opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who's been leading the polls for months, conceded at around 10.30 p.m., calling Mondani to congratulate him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Tonight was Assemblyman Mondani's night, and he put together a great campaign, and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Politico describes this as a humiliating defeat for Cuomo, a fixture in New York politics who tried to resurrect his career four years after resigning in disgrace following sexual harassment allegations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's a seismic shift in what normally would have been a sleepy re-election for incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who has said that he'll run as an independent in November, despite public backlash against corruption charges that were dismissed by the Trump administration last month.
--:-- Shamita Basu: With two of the established city heavyweights carrying significant baggage came an opening for someone new to break through.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Mamdani ran a campaign fueled by a strong social media presence with nearly a million followers on Instagram and videos like this that were shared widely among an energized base.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Every politician says New York is the greatest city on the globe. But what good is that if no one can afford to live here?
--:-- Shamita Basu: City Hall is engulfed in corruption. The cost of living is the real crisis.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He's advocated for raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, making city buses fare free, providing public child care for children under the age of six, and creating city-owned grocery stores that buy and sell at wholesale prices.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And he has said that he would pay for these proposals by raising the corporate tax rate and raising taxes on wealthy New Yorkers
--:-- Shamita Basu: Although such a tax hike would need the governor approval and Governor Kathy Hochul has already said she wouldn support the move
--:-- Shamita Basu: Mamdani has received a lot of attention for his vocal criticism of Israel's war on Gaza.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Here's how he answered that on Stephen Colbert's show earlier this week.
--:-- Zohran Mamdani: Like all nations, I believe it has a right to exist and a responsibility also to uphold international law.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He got a boost of endorsements from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, fellow Democratic socialists with big national name recognition.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Mamdani's win could chart a path for other left-wing Democrats, perhaps to the dismay of other factions of the party as they vie to control its future.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In many ways, the race in New York City mirrors the larger conversation happening in the Democratic Party as it searches for a message that resonates with voters after losing the White House.
--:-- Shamita Basu: For Democrats in New York, at least, the answer appears to be a rejection of the party establishment and an embrace of Mamdani's platform.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If Mamdani goes on to win the general election in November, he would be the city's first Muslim mayor and the youngest in a century.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's turn now to the administration's vaccine policy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Beginning today, the committee that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC is scheduled to meet in Atlanta, Georgia.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Normally, this meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, would not be very noteworthy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But this marks the first time that the group has met since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced all 17 members of the committee earlier this month.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That move prompted a lot of concern from public health experts, and it seemed to go against a promise Kennedy had made to Republican Senate Health Committee leader Bill Cassidy, who said he received assurances that the vaccine panel would remain unchanged.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yesterday, Cassidy called for a delay of today's meeting due to the lack of experience of Kennedy's replacements.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The 17 experts fired by Kennedy were replaced with eight new members, including scientists and physicians.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Several of the individuals selected gained prominence after criticizing the government's COVID-19 response.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In a statement, the American Medical Association expressed concern about the transparency of the selection and vetting process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Helen Branswell, a senior writer for STAT, told us that the new appointees stand in stark contrast to those who previously served on the committee.
--:-- Helen Branswell: The people who had been let go had an average of, I believe, 49 papers apiece on vaccination issues that they had published.
--:-- Helen Branswell: The new appointees had an average of 11 papers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She told us about one of Kennedy's picks.
--:-- Helen Branswell: There's a nurse named Vicki Pebsworth who was a board member of an organization called the National Vaccine Information Center, which sounds benign, but was actually an anti-vax group.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She believes that her child was vaccine injured.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Six former CDC vaccine advisory chairs wrote an article this week for STAT warning that the debate over vaccines is no longer just about whether they're safe.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now they argue it's about looking for ways to make them inaccessible.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They're concerned the escalating distrust of science will derail the delicate vaccine infrastructure that protects millions of Americans.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The way Branswell put it to us is, she says, we could soon be in a choose-your-own-adventure phase of public health.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are still other reputable groups of medical professionals out there that will continue to recommend vaccines but many people may feel unsure of where to look beyond the CDC for guidance
--:-- Shamita Basu: And recommendations from this committee can have big ramifications for providers and insurance companies down the line
--:-- Shamita Basu: Without an ACIP recommendation it becomes hard for doctors to know who to give a particular vaccine to and insurers don't have to cover it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So there's a very real chance that new vaccines that are brought to this market may have much lower uptake.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Prosecutors rested their case against Sean Diddy Combs on Tuesday, and the defense offered no witnesses of its own, meaning we may get a verdict earlier than expected.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Four women accuse Combs of sexual abuse, three women took the stand to testify against him, and Combs himself will not take the stand.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Closing arguments are expected on Thursday, and Combs faces life in prison if convicted.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now to the ongoing heat wave, where there are heat warnings for parts of the East Coast and large parts of the Midwest, impacting more than 160 million people.
--:-- Shamita Basu: New York Central Park hit 99 degrees on Monday afternoon.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It was 100 degrees at Boston Airport, a record.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In New Jersey, families sat in the heat at an open-air graduation ceremony.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Dozens were treated by ambulances for heat-related sickness, and parts of the event were cut short.
--:-- Shamita Basu: CBS was there.
--:-- CBS Reporter: I had an asthma, like a little asthma attack and everything. They put me They give me the breathing machine. They wanted to take me. I don't want to go because I don't want to miss my son's graduation.
--:-- CBS Reporter: They didn't call nobody else's name. They canceled it. Oh, no. All they did was say congratulations to everybody. East, I didn't even finish going through.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Temperatures are set to continue in the 90s and low 100s today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: For some areas, it'll feel as high as 115 degrees.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Experts advise people in affected areas to stay inside if they can, drink a lot of water, and keep the curtains closed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally, this week, Faith Kipyagan will attempt to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The 31-year-old Kenyan is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the mile, having completed it in the past in four minutes and 7.64 seconds.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On Thursday, she'll attempt it again in Paris in the first of a three-day running event being sponsored by Nike, which has been promoting the event with a set of ads starring Kip Yegan.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I remember running barefoot to school as a little girl. Dreaming of one day I will be Olympic champion.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We've never seen anybody win three in a row. Why don't we achieve the impossible?
--:-- Shamita Basu: To shave off the eight seconds she needs from her record best, scientists recently published a paper arguing that with a pacer in the front, quote, literally pushing air molecules out of the way, and a pacer in the back, she could do it without exerting any more energy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the news app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Popular Mechanics delves into the story of the World War II-era German V-2 rocket, considered the world's first ballistic missile, the efforts to stop it, and the unsung female analysts that played a role.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
